Does anyone else suffer from a lack of direction at work? It really kills motivation and velocity

Yup, how can i forget that, that was a nightmare..... Ended up losing my job....

It's half the reason I want to leave mine

How about a personal side project? Depends on how flexible your workplace is to that sort of thing though, if they're just nasty fuckers who want hourly updates on progress find a new job! I make sure I put aside at least one working day in the week for personal projects.

@feynman Same here. 1 Day a week I try to play hookey for personal code or learning new stuff. It's what keeps me sane amids this clusterfuck.

whenever I'm not sure what to do I start googling about stuff and learning and refactoring. Before too long you'll get back onto track, and have learned some stuff along the way. And if you feel like you're going too long without direction, ask! Seriously, there's nothing wrong with asking someone above or even beside you what you could be doing to help work towards whatever goal is in place.

@feynman, you my friend, need a beer!